Another round?

Shortly after the May 6 primary election, during which Bladen County residents soundly defeated a county-wide referendum for the sale of beer and/or wine, the ol’ grapevine began to rattle.

Several folks contacted the Bladen Journal with what they termed “a rumor” that claimed “someone” was talking about reviving the referendum for beer sales only on the Nov. 4 general election ballot.

It was pretty easy to get to the bottom of the rumor barrel and find out who that “someone” was — and you, too, will know if you read Staff Writer Erin Smith’s story on Page 1A today.

But the part of the rumor that now needs to be cleared up is this: The referendum may never see the light of day, simply because the individual who may or may not spearhead the effort was only inquiring about the process.

It’s a far cry — and a whole lot of effort — between inquiring about a referendum and actually getting one on the ballot. And the main ingredient needed before barley, hops and wheat can be sold will be support in the form of thousands of signatures from registered voters.

It is our thinking that, since the county’s voters — at least of the 36 percent who voted May 6 — have already nixed the beer sales referendum, getting the signatures to have it put on the Nov. 4 ballot seems a stretch. Never mind actually having a chance of getting it passed.

But the possibility is there, regardless of how remote. And if the referendum does somehow find its way onto the November ballot, then we are confident that those who fought against the May 6 referendums will crank up the political action committee machine once more and push for the same results.

And if that becomes necessary, we will stand with them again.

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